Featured Comment:
“sooooo good. basically tastes like my spam fry but with spaghetti”
– sheniqwa (from Pinterest)
What is Spaghetti Napolitan?
Spaghetti Napolitan (ナポリタン) is a classic Japanese-style “wafu pasta” dish that’s easy to make with everyday ingredients like sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions.
The simple ketchup sauce makes it a favorite in Japan, where it’s widely enjoyed at home, cafes, and “yoshoku” restaurants. You can even find premade sauce at the supermarket! Despite its Italian-sounding name, Napolitan is a Japanese creation. Chef Shigetada Irie invented the dish while working at the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama.
Inspired by a tomato sauce-flavored spaghetti dish served to American military personnel, he substituted ketchup for the hard-to-find tomato sauce back then.
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Hot dog sausages: If you can’t find these, feel free to use other sausages as long as they’re cooked.
- Vegetables: My choice includes yellow onion, green bell peppers, and brown button mushrooms. But feel free to mix it up!
- Olive oil: If you don’t have this on hand, any other cooking oil will do the trick.
- Tomato ketchup: While I used Heinz tomato ketchup, your regular ketchup will work just as well.
- Worcestershire sauce: This is my secret ingredient! It adds a lovely depth of flavor with its rich vegetable and fruit notes.
- Unsalted butter: Stick to unsalted butter to control the saltiness. If you’re using salted butter, remember to adjust the salt in other parts of the recipe.
- Dry spaghetti: About 1.7-1.8 mm thick spaghetti cooks perfectly. It’s also readily available in most stores.
- Toppings: To finish, I love adding a sunny-side-up egg, a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese, and a dash of dry parsley.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Japanese cafe-style Spaghetti Napolitan at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
If you prefer to watch the process in action, check out my YouTube video of this recipe for a complete visual walkthrough!
Start heating a large pot of water for the pasta. While you wait, heat a large pan on medium and fry the hotdogs in olive oil for 1-2 minutes.
Add thinly sliced onions to the pan and fry for 2 minutes or until softened to your liking.
Note: If you want to be more efficient, you can start cooking your pasta at the same time. Just be careful not to overcook.
Add the mushrooms and bell peppers and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
Add the ketchup and mix thoroughly.
Add Worcestershire sauce and unsalted butter and mix again. Once the butter has melted into the sauce and it’s all warmed through, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to prevent it from becoming too thick or burnt.
Once the water for the pasta is at a rolling boil, add 1 tsp of salt for every liter of water. I used 3000ml of water so 1 tbsp of salt.
Drop the pasta in and cook for 1-2 minutes less than the packaging states to achieve al dente (firm to the bite).
Heat a small pan with some cooking oil and fry two eggs to your preferred doneness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Add 1-2 tbsp of pasta water to the sauce. This salt in the water elevates the flavor, while the starch from the pasta helps make it glossy and stick better to the pasta.
Drain the rest of the water, add the pasta to the pan, and mix until evenly coated.
Complete the dish with an extra 1 tbsp of ketchup per portion and a generous sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese.
Plate up the pasta and place the fried egg on top. Sprinkle with dry parsley and enjoy!
If you love a touch of heat, try adding some Tabasco or chili sauce!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsHow to Store
If you want to refrigerate Napolitan, first put it in a storage container and remove it from indoor heat. Then, cover it and place it in the refrigerator. You should avoid using plastic containers, as they may cause the red color to stain. The storage period lasts for around three days.
To freeze, place it in airtight containers or freezable zip-top storage bags. Be sure to remove as much air as possible to prevent frosting.
When you’re ready to eat it, reheat it in the microwave. You can store it in the freezer for up to three weeks.
Storage summary
Room temperature – Not recommended.
Refrigerated – Up to 3 days.
Frozen – Up to 3 weeks.
I hope you enjoy this Japanese Spaghetti Napolitan recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Wafu Pasta Recipes
- Spaghetti Meat Sauce
- Butter Shoyu Pasta with Bacon and Mushrooms
- Mentaiko Pasta (Cod Roe Spaghetti)
- Uni Cream Pasta (Creamy Sea Urchin Spaghetti)
Napolitan Spaghetti (Japanese Ketchup Pasta)
Ingredients
- 3000 ml water
- 3 hot dog sausages diagonally sliced 1cm thick
- 100 g onion thinly sliced
- 75 g green bell pepper thinly sliced
- 30 g button mushroom thinly sliced
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp tomato ketchup + 2 tbsp for a finishing touch
- ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp salt
- 200 g dry spaghetti 1.7-1.8mm
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- ½ tsp grated parmesan cheese grated
- dried parsley to garnish
Instructions
- First, take a large pot and add 3000 ml water and bring it to a boil. While you wait for it to heat up, prepare the hotdogs and vegetables according to the ingredient list.
- Heat up a large pan on medium, once hot add 2 tsp olive oil. Add 3 hot dog sausages (sliced) and fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add 100 g onion and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add 75 g green bell pepper and 30 g button mushroom, and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add 4 tbsp tomato ketchup and lower the heat to prevent the ketchup burning.
- Mix well and add ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce and 1 tbsp butter. Once the butter has melted and the sauce is heated through, take the pan off the heat and set aside for later.
- Once the pot of water is boiling and add 1 tbsp salt.
- Add 200 g dry spaghetti and cook according to the instructions on the packaging.
- Heat up a separate pan on medium and add a drizzle of oil. Crack in 2 eggs with 1 pinch salt and pepper and fry to preference.
- Take 1-2 tbsp of the pasta water and add it into the pan with the meat and vegetables.
- Drain the rest of the water and transfer the pasta to the pan of sauce, return the pan to the heat. Mix well and allow to warm through.
- Add ½ tsp grated parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and pepper and an extra 1 tbsp of ketchup per portion. Mix well.
- Serve up and top with fried egg and a sprinkle of dried parsley.
- Enjoy!
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